With ammo sales falling under Trump, Lewiston maker furloughs 100 workers

About 100 employees of a Lewiston ammunition maker have been placed on furlough for a month as the company seeks to reduce unsold inventory.

Vista Outdoor put the workers on a monthlong voluntary layoff as demand for ammunition has dropped since Donald Trump’s election to president. The outcome left gun owners feeling more secure about their Second Amendment rights and buying smaller quantities of ammunition.

The workers from unspecified “targeted areas” of the company’s factories will return March 30, said Amanda Covington, a spokeswoman for Vista.

Vista, formerly ATK, indicated in late February it was looking carefully at the size of its workforce. It reported quarterly loss of $378 million, compared with a profit of $43.2 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Vista shed 10 employees in February in Lewiston through attrition, reducing its workforce to 1,480.

Vista is proceeding with a $70 million rimfire ammunition plant near the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport.

This story was originally published March 14, 2017 at 10:38 AM with the headline "With ammo sales falling under Trump, Lewiston maker furloughs 100 workers."